The Minister of Works, Housing and Water Resources, Ahmed Ibrahim, has cautioned contractors who fail to complete government projects within agreed timelines that they could be blacklisted and prevented from securing future state contracts.

He said the persistent delays by some local contractors were unacceptable and warned that the government was prepared to take firm action to enforce compliance with project schedules.

“The days of political entitlement are over. Don’t take my familiarity to be my weakness,” he cautioned.

Mr Ahmed issued the warning at the close of a three-day strategic sector-wide retreat organised by the ministry, its departments and agencies in Accra last Friday.

The retreat focused on identifying key challenges confronting the sector and developing practical measures to improve coordination, efficiency and delivery across the ministry and its agencies.

Housing Levy Proposed
As part of efforts to tackle Ghana’s estimated 1.8 million housing deficit, the minister proposed the introduction of a levy on building materials, drawing inspiration from a similar arrangement in Kenya.

He said revenue generated from the proposed levy could be channelled into the construction of affordable housing to make home ownership more accessible to ordinary Ghanaians.

Mr Ahmed noted that Kenya currently produces about 210,000 housing units annually, compared with Ghana’s estimated 5,000 units, describing Ghana’s output as woefully inadequate.

The minister, who is also the Member of Parliament for Banda in the Bono Region, said the country needed to significantly increase its housing delivery to bridge the widening gap.

He consequently directed the implementation of a seven-point action plan aimed at addressing the challenges identified during the retreat.

The plan includes the development of a consolidated ministry action plan incorporating key decisions reached at the retreat, as well as the preparation of a comprehensive status report on major projects.

It also calls for an acceleration framework to revive stalled and delayed projects and improve the pace of implementation.

Housing Projects
Presenting the outcomes of the retreat to the minister, the Chief Director of the ministry, Irene O. Messiba, said the housing challenge extended beyond the 1.8 million-unit deficit.

She disclosed that approximately 60 per cent of Ghana’s urban population required some form of government support to secure housing.

According to her, several government interventions were currently being implemented to increase the supply of affordable housing across the country.

Among them is the Saglemi Housing Project, which is expected to deliver 1,060 housing units, while the Pokuase/Afiaman project is projected to provide 8,000 units.

The Kpone Affordable Housing Project at Community 26 in Tema is also expected to deliver between 26 and 800 housing units and is currently 75.64 per cent complete.

An additional 120 units are being constructed under the programme and have reached 43 per cent completion.

At Adentan, the State Housing Company Court project is expected to provide 76 housing units and is 98 per cent complete, while the Amrahia project, comprising 196 units, has reached 90 per cent completion.

The ministry is also targeting the construction of 1,000 housing units at Oxygen City in Ho in the Volta Region.

The first phase of the project, involving 40 housing units, is currently 17 per cent complete.

Other measures agreed at the retreat include accelerating the implementation of regional housing projects, expanding public-private partnerships to boost affordable housing delivery and promoting innovative, cost-effective construction technologies and building materials.